• One of the things that’s interesting about anime in the US is how legal streaming has been able to turn the tide against rampant piracy (in the form of fan-subtitled videos distributed by BitTorrent). Streaming sites Crunchyroll, Funimation, and The Anime Network offer most series with official subtitles days or hours after their Japanese broadcast, and the former two are free with ads, or all-you-can-eat ad-free with a nominal monthly subscription. I believe this Spring is the first season where literally every new show in Japan is available through legitimate streams in the US. That’s remarkable.

• Roku was also brought up again and again by attendees of the industry panels I went to, because it’s a practical way to get most of this stuff on your HDTV, thanks to apps from Crunchyroll and Funimation (and Manga, flogging the same five shows they’ve had since the late 90′s). Crunchy is also noteworthy for being on so many other devices: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Google TV, Samsung and Panasonic smart TVs, even that Western Digital streaming box you’ve never heard of. Is any streaming service other than Netflix so aggressively multi-platform?

• Related: I’m not using the Apple TV all that much anymore. It’s a one-trick pony, and the trick is AirPlay. SDK or GTFO.

• That said, I hate the new Roku interface. More on that another time, maybe.

• Funimation had been doing a series of livestreams on Friday nights this winter, called “Noitamina Nights” (after the Japanese broadcast block that is the source of the Psycho-Pass and Robotics; Notes simulcasts). I had a chance to talk to host Justin Rojas after one of the Funi sessions and swapped notes about what software he was using to produce the stream and how they got on YouTube for their stream. Apparently, YouTube just announced an expansion of their livestreaming, now offering it to anyone whose channel has more than 1,000 subscribers. As part of this, Telestream offers a Wirecast product for YouTube, similar to their UStream-only offering, but with significant discounts for the YouTube-only versions of Wirecasts Studio and Pro. YouTube offered significant advantages for Funimation, not the least of which was the absence of un-timed interstitial ads like on UStream. YouTube could really cause a lot of pain to the UStreams, Livestreams, and Justin.tv’s of the world if they’re eventually inclined to open up the program further.

• Friday-night concert by anime credits band Kalafina was extraordinary. And of course I immediately bought their latest album for the drive home. Still, they played a bunch of official music videos before the concert, and it’s odd these are utterly un-findable on video sites like YouTube (though live performances like the iframe below are readily available). Wondering if the Japanese seriously play keep-away with their promotional videos (ignoring the obvious point that the videos are meant to promote music sales). A few weeks ago, I went looking for better-quality versions of the “Linda, Linda” video made for the Linda, Linda, Linda movie a few years ago, and every online variant seemed to be from the same taped-off-TV source, with the same overlays and compression artifacts. Why on earth is this stuff so hard to find?

• On Saturday night, I took off early to do some Fry’s Electronics shopping. It turns out they had an anime sale of their own: all Funimation or Sentai Filmworks titles were buy-one-get-one-half-off. I picked up the two seasons of ef (ef – a tale of memories and ef – a tale of melodies), and upon returning home, ripped them for iPad viewing. As I discovered and reported on Twitter, at least one of the episodes of melodies had really bad audio sync, off by almost a second. I posted a clip of the bad sync to Telly:

  So what’s a guy to do? It didn’t hit me until a day later: you ripped the show into an MP4… why not just slip the audio track by a few frames and re-export it?

  

  Yes, I actually used Motion for this, because my old copy of Final Cut Express HD doesn’t seem to like modern codecs, and I haven’t sprung for Final Cut Pro yet. Still, it worked: Mizuki’s lip flap is much improved, and when she grabs Kuze’s arm, the foley isn’t a half-second late.

 

• Looking fresh. There is nothing more crisp, airy and welcoming of spring and summer than a brilliant, white wardrobe.
• It goes with everything. It really compliments with just about everything you pair it with. My favorite is white paired with nude, grey, blue and yellow. And stripes!
• It reflects light and keeps you cool. THANK YOU, Mr. Wizard, for teaching me this invaluable lesson about the refraction of light and its heating and cooling powers in the 1990's.

 

• Looking fresh. There is nothing more crisp, airy and welcoming of spring and summer than a brilliant, white wardrobe.
• It goes with everything. It really compliments with just about everything you pair it with. My favorite is white paired with nude, grey, blue and yellow. And stripes!
• It reflects light and keeps you cool. THANK YOU, Mr. Wizard, for teaching me this invaluable lesson about the refraction of light and its heating and cooling powers in the 1990's.

I’m sure it’s nothing, you guys.

Eonline.com released this image of former Michigan quarterback Tom Brady with his son, Jack, last week. The problem is his son is wearing a University of Minnesota Golden Gophers sweatshirt—not a Wolverines shirt.

Thanks to the Star Tribune, the Jack Brady recruitment rumors are beginning to swirl about the Internetsphere.

We have no idea why he is wearing it, but as e-mailer Dan suggests, it's never too early to start the "Jack Brady, Gophers incoming class of 2026" football rumors.

It is not necessarily a big deal, but it does make you wonder why Brady didn’t have any Maize and Blue available for Jack to wear.

LANSING, MI - A coalition supported by the Humane Society of the United States says it is considering a second petition drive aimed at banning wolf hunting in Michigan.

An initial hunt is already scheduled for this fall in parts of the Upper Peninsula where wolves have killed livestock and pets. Opponents of a wolf hunt say they haven’t given up on blocking that hunt, as well as possible future hunts.

“We continue to explore all options to stop the senseless hunting and trapping of wolves in our state,” Jill Fritz, director of Keep Michigan Wolves Protected, said in an email Wednesday.

Beyond the disgraceful way the Legislature circumvented democracy in doing this, it's also something that ironically the Tea Party ought to be out, wearing tri-corner hats, and waving signs filled with misspellings over. Letting the NRC determine what animals constitute game animals implies that the state's wildlife belongs to state government rather than the people. That's not the case. The state's wildlife belongs to the people, and what animals are determined to be hunted as game animals is a decision that ought to be left up to the owners of the wildlife ... the people, either through their elected representatives or by direct vote of them.

Do you have any dresses that you have been repetitively styling the same way? Try to think of way to re-create them simply by changing up your accessories. It’ll open up so many new opportunities in your wardrobe!

This post features a guest photographer! My good friend Mae and I were on our way to an event and took these pictures quickly before we left. You can check out her photography blog here!

Outfit Breakdown:
Dress: c/o Gentle Fawn (Same. Save. Spend. Splurge.)
Necklace: H&M (Save. Spend. Splurge.)
Belt: Thrifted (Save. Spend. Splurge.)
Wedges: Banana Republic (Save. Spend. Splurge.)

.

.

Post from: Green and Clean Mom (TM) all rights reserved.

Five Easy Camping Meals

The post Five Easy Camping Meals appeared first on Green and Clean Mom ™.